本文主要分析了近十年來西方人文地理學的旗艦期刊，對當中與人口遷移研究相關的研究議題、取徑與方向做進一步的剖析與討論，目的在使國內從事相關研究的地理學者可以清楚的掌握此一研究範疇的發展脈絡與未來的可能發展，以與國際學術界有更多對話的空間。文中首先對1990年代後期以後國內人文地理學領域的人口遷移研究做了初步的分析，同時也透過近十年來英美主流的西方期刊，對人文地理學中人口遷移研究的始祖--人口地理學80年代以後的發展、背景以及爭議做了回顧，並與國內的人口遷移研究做一比對，以彰顯出不同的社會脈絡下，不同的研究發展方向，以及兩者之間相互對話的可能。 分析顯現，目前英美人文地理學的人口遷移研究正朝向多元典範的方向發展，一方面在研究核心議題與取徑方法上跨越學科次領域的核心而加以串聯，另一方面則準確掌握人口與自然環境及社會問題之間的關係。除了指出移民整體變遷之鉅觀人口遷移與分佈的統計資料持續累積與分析以外，強調移民的地方認同以及與移民有關的「自我」、「他者」及「地方」，或者與權力有關的「排除」與「界限」等具有文化意涵的研究也成為另一股潮流。在人口遷移研究的移民類型上，朝向少數民族、少數族群國際移民、弱勢族群以及女性等。與之相較，臺灣人文地理學領域的人口遷移研究，整體而言在移民類型、核心議題與研究取徑及方法上呈現了多元分佈的狀況，且大致掌握了國內社會發展的脈絡，但有明顯集中於調適、人口組成與空間分佈與區位決策的情況；且在研究取徑與理論仍朝向1970與1980年代的英美人口地理學傾斜，並且呈現出理論低度發展的狀況。綜觀英美人文地理學其他次領域的發展，發現人口遷移研究可以跨越學科次領域的界限與其他領域相互串聯，以研究問題為主軸，在議題上貼近社會脈動，在取徑與方法上呈現多元，在理論上更加深化。

This paper aims at investigating potential research issues, methodology and approaches in the area of migration studies. It also serves to expose Taiwan’s human geography studies to the international research community and to intrigue a comparison across the national borders. I first review the migration studies done by Taiwanese human geographers since late 1990s. Through the study of English journals and literatures of the past decade, a thorough retrospect of development and major issues since the 1980s, in population geography which is often referred to as the foundation of migration studies, is then attempted. Migration studies done in Taiwan are then compared to their Anglophonic counterparts. Consequently, we are able to distinguish the different research directions in different societal contexts and explore the possibility of dialogue between the two. In my analysis, migration studies of population geography in Anglophonic world have so far established the discipline as an interdisciplinary paradigm: its research focus and methodology transcend the disciplinary boundaries on the one hand and depict the relationship between population and natural environment and social issues on the other hand. In addition to the trend of accumulation and analysis of data on migration and dispersion at a macro-level, micro-level studies with cultural implications, such as the migrants’ identification of place, “self’, and “others”, or power-related subjects like “exclusiveness” and “boundaries”, are also popular. In regard to migrant types, modern population geography turns to studies of minority, minority of international migrants, communities with disadvantages, and females. Despite the growth of migration studies to cover the diversity of migration types, key issues and methodology, migration studies of population geography done in Taiwan still lean toward those fashioned in the 1970s and 1980s, a period which is characterized by low development in theories. By reviewing the development of Anglophonic human geography and other sub-disciplines, we conclude that migration studies can transcend the boundaries of academic disciplines, embrace issues that are related to the reality of society, use a diversity of methodology, and intensify in theories.